Swindon in the Past Lane

I was busy researching the life and times of Henrietta St John, a sad story of 18 th  century double standards set against a backdrop of letters and gardening. Henrietta’s so say ‘platonic’ relationship with poet John Dalton led to her banishment from her home and her separation from her two children, and then during my research and reading I came across the name Doctor John St John, albeit from a different century. I was loath to halt my work in progress but I couldn’t resist trying to find out who this man was. Although there are still large gaps in my knowledge, I have discovered that Dr John led a pretty interesting life. Dr John was in the thick of the action during the 17 th  century Civil War. As troops assembled for the second showdown in the Berkshire countryside, Essex wrote to the Derby-House Committee My Lords and Gentlemen, It is a comfort to mee in this sad tyme of mine affliction, in minde and body, to see that I am continued in your care, being at this...

On July 11, 1638 Obadiah Sedgwick married Priscilla Goddard at the parish church, Ogbourne St Andrew. Obadiah Sedgwick was born in 1600, the son of Joseph Sedgwick, vicar  at St Peter's, Marlborough. He went on to become lecturer at St Mildred's in the City of Westminster before moving onto a parish in Coggeshall. In 1642 he became chaplain to the regiment of foot raised by Denzil Holles and finally rector at St Paul's, Covent Garden. But these were extraordinary times. It all started to go wrong for Charles I when his best friend forever George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, was assassinated in 1628. Charles had already fallen out with his MPs, dissolving Parliament three times between 1625 and 1629. Add to this inflammatory mix religious upheaval and lo and behold civil war erupted, Charles lost his throne and eventually his head as well. And in the middle of all this we have Obadiah Sedgwick, a Puritan divine and member of the Westminster Assembly, a council of fe...

Some of the lakeside trees at Lydiard Park are believed to be about 250 years old, dating from the mid 18th century redevelopment of the parkland. In 1743 John, 2nd Viscount St John, remodelled the medieval mansion house with his wealthy wife's inheritance. He swept away the old formal gardens and introduced the new, 'natural' looking landscape popularised by leading English landscape artist Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. In recent years the vagaries of the British weather have taken their toll on the trees at Lydiard Park and when this majestic tree (pictured above) close to the house was brought down in heavy winds several years ago, I was told the sad story of a grieving mother who planted two trees for the sons she lost fighting in the Civil Wars. I wondered why I had never heard this poignant story before ... The mother in question was Anne Leighton, Lady St John, the wife of Sir John St John, 1st Baronet. But there were a few inconsistencies in the ...